ALPINE:

Cuche edges Miller to repeat as Hahnenkamm champ, Guay 16th

Jan. 22, 2011      ♦ Photo: Didier Cuche won his fourth Hahnenkamm Saturday (didiercuche.ch)

Didier Cuche became the oldest man to win a World Cup race by claiming the downhill on the Streif course Saturday at the age of 36.

The Swiss star, who won the classic event for a second straight year and fourth time in total, broke Marco Buechel's record by 85 days. The Liechtenstein skier was 36 years, 74 days old when he won his last race before retiring, a super-G in Kitzbühel in 2008.

After a shaky start Saturday, the Swiss downhill champion was nearly flawless in finishing the 3.3-kilometer run in 1 minute, 57.72 seconds, beating Bode Miller of the United States by 0.98. Adrien Theaux of France was 1.18 back in third.

Erik Guay skied into 16th position, with Ben Thomsen 26th and Ryan Semple 46th. Manny Osborne-Paradis did not finish his run.

Cuche almost lost his right pole at the start and was not clean in the first turn, but never held back from charging afterward.

"I first thought my run wouldn't be good enough, it was not a good start," Cuche said. "I have to thank my service man because my skis were blistering fast today."

Cuche earned his first victory of the season and 15th overall in what could be his final season on the World Cup circuit.

"I'll enjoy skiing the rest of the season. After that, I'll decide if I race for another year," he said.

Miller, who also finished runner-up to Cuche in 2008, was satisfied with his performance and praised the winner.

"I skied really well today, but there was no chance to take Cuche when he's skiing like that," Miller said. "He put down an incredible run and took an amazing amount of risk ... He's got this hill figured out."

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia, who won Friday's super-G, was 11th to extend his lead in the overall standings with main rival Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, who placed 17th. Kostelic has 850 points, followed by Svindal at 585 and Cuche at 573.

Cuche overtook Michael Walchhofer, who failed to finish his run, on top of the downhill standings. The Austrian lost a ski on a bump in a right turn and slid off course.

"I came off my line and overlooked that bump, it was like a beginner's fault," said Walchhofer, the 2006 winner who raced the Streif course for a final time, as he will retire at the end of the season.

The race was interrupted for 20 minutes after Siegmar Klotz of Italy lost his balance at a jump, fell backward on the slope and slid into the safety nets. He was transported to a hospital by helicopter with unknown injuries.

Guay followed up an 11th-place finish in Friday's super-G by finishing 16th in Saturday's classic Hahnenkamm downhill.

His time of 2:0.26 seconds came as the Canadian team also celebrated a stirring effort from Thomsen, of Invermere, B.C., who picked up some World Cup points with a top-30 finish.

"All things considered, I think it was a pretty solid weekend. It wasn't an ideal run but it's tough to come back on Kitzbühel," said Guay. "I had some good splits, especially, and some good sections."

There were several crashes on the Streif, a challenging course in which skiers reach speeds of up to 130 kilometres per hour and also have to negotiate large jumps.

Although Guay's result wasn't one of his best, the fact that he was able to perform well given the circumstances made it a successful weekend for the reigning overall World Cup super-G champion.

"That's one of the reasons I'm satisfied," Guay said of being able to lay down solid runs on his comeback from injury. "There were a few accidents (Saturday) but that's ski racing. You kind of have to numb yourself to it. Part of the reason I did this race was that I wanted to have some confidence on my skis, and I think I've accomplished that."

Thomsen, skiing for the first time at Kitzbühel, showed nerves of steel as he battled his way to a 26th-place finish with a time of 2:01.19.

"Up top it was tough. It was really dark and really rough," said Thomsen, 24. "It was super-choppy and I was having a hard time holding my line.

"But I like that stuff — the steeper, the bumpier, the faster, the better. I don't like the slow courses."

Paul Kristofic, Canada's head coach, was impressed with Thomsen's run.

"It's not easy to do that from where he came from," said Kristofic of Thomsen wearing bib No. 50. "He did a fantastic job, especially in the later part of the course."

Thomsen, whose best World Cup result is a 16th-place finish at Val-Gardena, Italy, in December, said he'd love to be on the podium here one day, but is trying to focus on making steady progress at each race.

"I'm so excited to go so fast but I've got to remember that it's my first year and my first time down Kitzbühel," he said.

Osborne-Paradis, meanwhile, didn't finish but looked like he was skiing aggressively and with speed before he missed a gate.

"I think his approach was better," said Kristofic. "He's still got plenty of work to do but some parts were much, much better today."

Guay said his back held up well during the run but was "a little tight" afterward. He plans to take Sunday off before beginning his preparation for next week's World Cup stop in Chamonix, France.

"It's a case of going step by step with Erik at this point," said Kristofic. "Get him as strong and healthy as possible leading up to the World Championships."

The Hahnenkamm races will be concluded by Sunday's slalom, which will also count as a classic-combined event with the downhill. S-Magazine

— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Kitzbühel men's World Cup downhillCanada's  results